


Freedom

by Aceofstars16



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M, Mild Blood, Star Wars: Rebels AU, old friends au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 06:44:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9589325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: This fic is formeldy-arts'Old Friends AUwhere Sabine and Ezra knew each other as kids and ended up on the streets together. In his fic, Sabine loses Ezra and while trying to find him gets captures by slaves, who incidentally found Ezra too.A small blood warning, but only by mention or implication, nothing explicit or in detail.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/156389449088/freedom)

_I should have never left him._

The words ran through Sabine’s mind as she ran through the streets, searching for any sign of Ezra. She even resorted to calling out his name, something she never did. It always drew too much attention. But she didn’t care about that now. Something was wrong. She knew it as soon as she had seen that their little nook had been attacked.

Things like that happened, she knew that. They had already moved around a few different times due to ransacked camps. But this time Ezra was nowhere to be seen.

Fear gripped Sabine’s heart as she ran, searching desperately for her friend, the boy who she had refused to leave even when her parents had insisted she leave. The boy whose parents were dead because of her family. She hadn’t been able to do anything to save his family, but she would do anything to keep him safe now.

Only her shortness of breath slowed Sabine down as she headed down yet another street. She refused to stop though, she kept searching. Hour after hour, until the day ended. Then for the first time in years, she slept alone. In the past, there had been nights of sleeping in new places while her and Ezra tried to find a new place to call ‘home’, even if those homes were just abandoned buildings or cave-like holes in the city. It had never been fun, but Ezra had always been there. Because as much as she wanted to protect him and be there for him, she had to admit that he was a comfort to her. A constant reassurance in an unsure life. And now he was gone.

 _No, I will find him._ Sabine told herself as she curled up next to an old factory. She hugged her arms close to herself to preserve warmth. All of the blankets her and Ezra had gathered were gone, everything was gone except for the blaster on her back and the few essentials she kept in her pockets – mementoes of her family. As much as she hated them, she couldn’t seem to get rid of the small disc that contained their picture on it. Not that she could even see it – she didn’t have the equipment for that - but for some reason it assured her. It reminded her of what they had done, how they had failed Ezra, and how she wouldn’t make the same mistake.

The days stretched on and Sabine never stopped searching for Ezra. She didn’t look for a new camp, she didn’t steal any nick knacks. The only times she stopped looking were to grab a small bit of food- just enough to keep her going- and to take short naps to keep her energy up.

By the end of the week, she was exhausted and downtrodden. She should’ve found Ezra by now, he couldn’t have gone that far. And yet as she searched every nook and cranny of Capital City, he wasn’t anywhere to be found. Her hopes were fading. She didn’t know where else to look, what else to do, but she couldn’t give up on Ezra. She wouldn’t stop even if she killed herself looking for him. And from the way she felt that might not be far off.

Her exhausted state was the only reason the gang got the jump on her. But she still put up a fight, kicking and biting and screaming. A cloth was shoved over her mouth, and as much as she struggled and tried to fight, she just wasn’t strong enough – her rigorous searching had worn her down and her kidnapper was far bigger than her.

As she blacked out, Sabine’s last thought was how she had failed Ezra. She had tried so hard, but she had failed him again…

* * *

 Pain woke her. An intense burning singed her shoulder, more pain than she had ever felt in a lifetime. She tried to scream, but a cloth was jammed in her mouth. That didn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face however. Then the heat eased, but the pain remained.

“Almost done,” a harsh voice said, then pain shot through her shoulder again. Something was placed on top of the wound and the pain eased a little, but not much. Her shirt- which had been pulled to the side- bounced back into place, though it still only partly covered her shoulder. Even with the pressure gone and a bandage in place, Sabine’s head still felt woozy. Probably a side effect from whatever it is they had used to knock her out. That and the fact that she had barely been getting four hours of sleep a night, if that.

“Move!” the voice said again, jabbing her in the side.

Sabine tried to stand but her muscles didn’t seem able to comply.

“Come on!”

This resulted in another sharp jab, this time to her injured shoulder. A cry escaped Sabine’s mouth, but as the man laugh she quickly shut her mouth. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction hearing her cry again. Focusing all of her energy on her limbs, she forced herself to stand, only then realizing that her hands were bound in front of her. Even if she had the strength to attack, she wouldn’t have been able to do much damage. That was probably the idea, at least. Mandalorians didn’t go down easy. As much as Sabine resented her family’s betrayal of the Bridgers, she was still proud to be a Mandalorian. But right now, Sabine didn’t feel very much like a Mandalorian. She just felt scared.

One foot in front of the next, one step after the next. Sabine knew she should try to focus on where she was, try to figure out how to get out of here, but it took all of her strength to just keep walking.

A hand pulled her to a stop in front of a door. She didn’t even have the energy to cry out at the pain in her shoulder, and she barely registered that her hands had been untied when she was shoved inside. Collapsing on the floor, all Sabine wanted to do was rest. Her eyes were already closing when the voice spoke. Not just any voice though. It was Ezra.

“Sabine?”

A rush of energy shot through Sabine and quickly sat up and looked around. And there was Ezra in front of her with his baggy shirt hanging off him, bags under his eyes, and fear and hope etched on his face.

“Ezra…” Tears of relief built up in Sabine’s eyes and she flung her arms around him and held him tighter than she ever had before. She had found him, he was okay. Now they just had to get out of here.

* * *

 “Did you get it?” Ezra’s voice was lined with pain and Sabine didn’t have to see him to know that he was crying. But she didn’t blame him, she had cried too.

“Yeah, it’s out,” Sabine said, tossing the bloody tracking chip on the ground and crushing it with her boot.

Exhaustion and pain drained her body, but her chest filled with triumph. After weeks of being forced to serve the Black Draknots, her and Ezra had finally found a way escape. It hadn’t been pretty, but they were out, and with their tracking chips gone, they were free.

However, as Sabine stared at the 04 branded on Ezra’s shoulder and felt the pain from her own extracted chip, she felt a burning anger grow in her chest. Those men hadn’t gotten half of what they deserved. If she was bigger, stronger, she would’ve put a stop for them for good. She couldn’t though, not yet, today freedom was their only victory. But she vowed that one day she would be strong enough to stop those who wronged her and Ezra, one day she would make a difference. For now, though, being free on streets again with Ezra - free to do what they wanted- was enough.


End file.
